J The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 24, 2004 - B3 Trafalgar Toastmasters mark 25 years of public speaking By Wilma Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR He was never elected president o f the Toastmaster club he founded, but Peter Crabtree has done just about everything else with the public speaking organiza tion and has been honoured for his efforts. Recently, he was thanked at the T rafalgar Toastm asters C lub 25th anniversary dinner at the Le D ome Banquet Hall. It was noted the club last year renamed its Toastmaster o f the Year recognition as the Peter C rabtree Awar J and District 60 has renamed its President o f the Year Award as the Peter Crabtree Award during the late 1980s in recogni tion o f the local Toastm aster's contribu tions to the organization. Tribute was paid to Crabtree for start ing the club on the night o f the Mississauga train derailm ent on Nov. 10. 1979. The club was chartered with 22 members, him self am ong them. Also among them were charter m em ber Betty McKay, club archivist. The Trafalgar Toastmasters w as the first club in town to welcome women. The club's Spirit Award, given at every meeting, was renamiSJ the Betty MrK,-iv Spirit Award at the anniversary dinner. M em bers rem inisced over dinner. Others took the microphone, and not only dem onstrated their public speaking skills, but talked about some m emorable highlights. Doreen M cRitchie. a 17-year-member, spoke about everything from speech props used to create hum our to members helping each other with personal prob lems. "Toastmasters takes all com ers," she said. "We have people with personal problem s, those w ho have suffered jo b loss, and the club provides an environ m ent o f support to help people through their difficult tim es." M cR itchie, w ith D ave H ow lett, launched the M ar ion To n.nmaaters Q u lw n January 2001. T his club meets at Paletta M ansion in Burlington. Joan G raham , a 23-year-m em ber. said she w as w orking at O akville Trafalgar M em orial Hospital as a nurse the night o f the M ississauga derailment - ihe sam e night the club was chartered. She rem em bered, since joining the club, that she coached a life-long stutterer w ho had joined Toastmasters. "T he guy was voted `best table talker" and the m em bers rose en masse to give him a standing ovation." She also mentored a w oman, a new imm igrant, "who had a jo b in finance but had great difficulty m aking presentations. " I'v e seen som e incredible personal courage in an incredible supportive environm ent," said G raham . "A fter 23 years, I feel Toastmasters is w orthwhile - I've seen some mini miracles." G raham 's husband. Norm G raham , joined Toastmasters 17 years ago. "You com es for the skills and you stay for the people," said Crabtree, club founder and form er district governor and international director during the 1980s. He form ed the T rafalgar Toastmasters with David Smith and Neil Flannery in O ctober 1979. Crabtree originally jo in e d l»nM O a k v ille ' 'fo m tn iastcrs in 1972 and was its presi dent in 1977. T he T rafalgar c lu b 's launch at A ppleby College w as attended by some 80-90 people. Eric S tuhlm ueller o f W innipeg. President o f Toastm asters Wilma Blokhuis · O akville Beaver A t th e 2 5 th a n n iv e r s a r y o f th e T ra f a lg a r T o a s tm a s te rs, h o n o u re d fro m left a re D o reen M cR itch ie, N o rm a n d Jo a n G ra h a m , c lu b p re sid e n t Ia n F e rg u so n , c h a r te r m e m b e r B etty M cK ay a n d fo u n d e r P e te r C ra b tre e . International, was the guest speaker. "He was in Toronto for a conference," said Crabtree, "so w e were able to get him. He presented our charter, making us the only club (in Oakville) to have our charter presented by the internation al president." Crabtree said the club experienced "a num ber o f ups and dow ns," first m eet ing at the Oakville Central Library for seven to eight years and then as an "itin erant group meeting at six to seven dif ferent places" before returning to the library in 1980 where it continues to meet. " W e've grow n into a successful organization w ith fantastic speeches, and w e've helped 300 people. W hat is it that m akes us successful?" he continued. "The answ er is simple. We provide an environm ent for learning and having fun, an explosive mixture that keep us regenerating. The form ula is simple, expediting it is com plicated." Crabtree com pared learning the skills o f public speaking to "all o f us walking uphill and feeling elated when we think w e'v e reached and top and find our selves looking beyond to the next peak. It's about setting goals and achieving them ." Toastmasters also offers speech craft courses for adults and youth leadership programs for youth under 18. I n t p m a lM fflfll founded in 1924, has helped four million men and women develop their public speak ing and leadership skills. The organiza tion has 9,300 clubs in 80 countries and 200.000 members. Oakville has five Toastmaster clubs three o f them open to the public, First Oakville, Trafalgar. G len Abbey. Mretny Qakk-at The Kensington for senior resi dents only and T D b - G roup for Tim Hortons em ployees only. For informa tion, visit www.toastmasters.org. Salvation Army collecting donated toys for more than 1,000 children, providing holiday dinners (Continued from page B1) On Friday at 8 p.m .. The Dundas/Hwy. 403 Canadian Tire hosts One M agic Niglit. On hand will be the Sally A nn's E m ergency R esponse Vehicle, band and kettles. The event will, in part, benefit the toy drive. The Dec. 10 Christm as Magic event in Downtown O akville will feature nine food collection bins on streetcom ers throughout the day. Kettles will likewise be on hand at S aturday's St. M ildred's-L ightboum School craft fair, where coats and m it tens will also be collected. O f course kettles will be front and centre during the Saturday's Santa Claus Parade. M ayor Ann Mulvale will staff a ket tle on Dec. 11 starting at 11:30 a.m. to help officially open the O akville Toy Depot, the annual Salvation Army ini tiative which brings a little joy to more than 1,000 area children, from infants to those aged 16. H opedale S hopping Centre has again donated space to run the operation. "This is the second year they've done this wonderful thing for us," said King. "The D epot gives parents a chance to put a sm ile on their kids' faces." Passing through the site, registered clients (who m ust reside in O akville to receive services) pick out gifts and stocking stuffers from donations labeled according to gender and age. To regis ter, call Diane at 905-827-6523. The Toy D epot cannot w ork without donations, so these are alw ays w el com e, especially gifts appropriate for teenagers. Volunteers to help out in the D epot are needed as well. The Salvation Arm y is also a benefi ciary o f the Toy M ountain program at O akville Place, from w hich gifts col lected will be distributed in Oakville. The Salvation Army is also collect ing money to cover the cost o f the Christm as voucher program. This initia tive. w hich replaced the traditional Christm as ham pers, offers fam ilies the chance to sit down to a real holiday din ner by providing chits worth $25 per adult and $15 per child. G uenther added that, because o f the d ifferent cultural b ack g ro u n d s o f clients, vouchers rather than a turkey dinner allow them to buy w hatever they want. Part o f the funds raised by the j ingle Bell Fund goes tow ard this pro gram. The annual Christm as D inner for 200-300 Salvation Arm y clients takes place Dec. 20 at St. P aul's United Church, generously hosted again this year by Susanne and Adrian Vogt o f T iid u il fyiCTtlig. Last year, the dinner - now an inte gral part o f the Vogt fam ily C hristm as featured a menu o f salad, pork tender loin W ellington, ch ick en w ith w ild m ushroom s, m ashed potatoes, assorted vegetables and dessert from fruit to tiramisu. This dinner is for ticket-holders only, so to obtain them call Diane at the above number. To volunteer to staff a kettle, please call Bailey at 905-827-5324 ext. 36. To lend a hand w ith any oth er Salvation Army initiative, such as the dinner, contact Maj. Joanne G uenther at ext. 28. Bailey m akes it clear that tim e is as valuable as m oney so those who ca n 't afford to donate funds are encouraged to sign up and volunteer. Everyone from service clubs and churches to students earning their 40 hours service are already involved. 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